Twenty-five years of integrated pest management in Nepali agriculture: lessons, gaps, and the way forward in the context of climate change

The Government of Nepal implemented a globally adopted integrated pest management (IPM) approach in the late 1990s to minimize the negative environmental effects of pesticides and keep pest damage below the economic injury level. Current farm management systems, land use patterns, heavy reliance on chemical pesticides, and climate change have exacerbated pest issues and negatively affected crop production, requiring a revisit and modification of IPM implementation for modern Nepali agriculture. In this paper, we aimed to critically assess the progress and gaps in implementing IPM over more than 25 years in Nepal. Our assessment shows that growers have been practicing a wide range of pest management tactics, such as adopting local cultivars, cultural control, biological control, behavioral and mechanical control, indigenous technology and knowledge, and mixed approaches. Despite these practices, dependencies on synthetic chemicals are continuously increasing, becoming a major tool of the current agricultural pest management toolbox. To reduce the dependence on synthetic chemicals and the subsequent negative effects of chemicals on the environment and nontarget organisms, we propose a multistep and ecosystem-centered IPM framework aiming to include multi-trophic interactions and abiotic factors in agroecosystems. To make Nepali agriculture pest-resilient and climate-smart, it is imperative to shift a paradigm in national agricultural policies and develop well-funded research and extension entities that coordinate federal, provincial, and local institutions across the country. The Government of Nepal should lead the effort in collaboration with universities and national and international researchers, private industries, and other stakeholders.